Just Waiting Up For You
by alex's wonderland
Summary: One-Shot, Pre-Book. Its 2:30 in the morning, and Sodapop still isn't home. Darry and Ponyboy up wait for their brother. Please Read and Review.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything from The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.

Pony sat indian-style on the old bed.

He had shared this bed with Soda every night, ever since they were little kids. Pony glanced over at the red alarm clock that sat on the bedside table. It read 2:35. Pony threw his head back in frustration, and ran his fingers threw his greasy hair.

_Where is Soda? Where could he be? Why is he out so late? Why doesn't he come home?_

Pony sighed heavily and grabbed his pillow from the head of the bed. He tucked the worn old pillow close to his chest, and wrapped his arms tightly around it. Pony's mind kept wandering, and coming up with crazy horrific situations that Soda could be in. Pony imagined his Soda getting hit by a car and lying dead in a ditch by the side of the road. He imagined Soda being mugged and killed by a bunch of Socs. He imagined Soda lying in a hospital bed, crying for his brothers to come help him.

Pony shook his head angrily. _I've got to stop thinking like that! Soda is okay…he's just fine…God I hope, Soda is ok. I wish he'd come home! _

Pony was actually getting upset enough to cry when Darry entered the small bedroom. Darry sat on the edge of Pony's bed and patted his younger brother on the shoulder. "Hey, Pony. You should be in bed."

"I am in bed."

Darry smiled at his little brother's sarcasm. "Oh, ok smartass. Seriously, you've got school tomorrow. Go to sleep."

Pony shook his head stubbornly. "Not till Soda comes home."

Darry sighed. "You're just as stubborn as me. Well, you'd better believe that I'm gonna give him hell for coming in this late! It's bad enough that he's worrying me, but he's upsetting you now…and he knows how high-strung you can be. This isn't like Soda."

Pony eyes got big, and he nodded quickly. "I know! Don't you think he could be hurt or something? Something's gotta be wrong."

Darry leaned backward and looked seriously at his little brother. "I don't know, Ponyboy. He did say that he was stopping by Sandy's house after he got off work. I expect he's just over there, and he's lost track of the time or something. Maybe he's just fallen asleep."

"But what if he's not. What if he's actually in trouble! We've got to go find him!"

Darry cracked a rare smile at Pony. "Jesus Pony, you're more paranoid than I am! Try and calm down, buddy."

Pony shook his head and squeezed the pillow even closer to his chest. "No. Darry, we've gotta go get Soda! Let's go drive around and look for him."

Darry shook his head and patted Pony on the back, "No, we can't just go randomly drive the streets of Tulsa, and expect to find the one person we're looking for. We've just got to wait here."

They were both silent for a moment. Pony finally spoke up, "You're acting so calm. Why don't you worry about Soda as much as you worry about me? I bet if I came in this late, you'd be blowing your top."

Darry thought about the question for a while before answering, "Well, I don't really know. I mean, you're probably right. I would be a lot more upset if you came in this late. But…well…I don't know. Soda's just older than you. He can take care of himself. I just don't have to worry about him as much as I gotta worry about you."

Pony shot a resentful look at Darry. "I'm not a baby ya know. I turn 14 next month. I can take care of myself too."

"Yeah, I know Pony. I didn't say that you were a baby. But you _are_the baby of this family. I just gotta watch out for you, ya know that."

Pony didn't answer, but just stared angrily at his feet. After a minute of silence Pony decisively said, "Well, I'm still not going to sleep until Soda gets home."

Darry groaned as he stood up and walked for the door of the room. "Hey, I don't care if ya stay up, but you'd better not use that as an excuse for doing bad on your algebra test tomorrow."

Pony shrugged. "I won't."

Darry closed the door behind him and walked down the hallway toward the living room.

Pony lay back on his bed and stretched his arms out in front of him. He thought to himself, _"God, I just wish Soda would come home. I'm tired as hell, but I'm not sleepy at all. I hate this damn feeling...Christ Soda, where are you!?" _

Just then, Pony heard the screen door slam shut and the sound of someone walking down the hallway. Pony heard Darry say in a harsh tone, "Sodapop Curtis, where the hell have you been?"

"Umm…I fell asleep at Sandy's. I'm real sorry, Darry."

"Damn right, you're sorry! Do you have any idea how scared your baby brother has been?"

"Pony?"

"No, you're other baby brother?! Yes, Ponyboy! He's in your bedroom, probably having a panic attack as we speak!"

"Oh God…I didn't thin-"

"Yeah, its obvious that you weren't thinking. But it don't matter now. Just get in there and go to bed. Pony wouldn't go to bed without you home, and the boy's got an algebra test tomorrow. He's gonna be tired as hell."

"Alright…I'm really sorry Darry. I didn't mean too."

Darry nodded and wrapped his arm around Soda. "I know you didn't little buddy. But just go to bed now."

"Okay."

A few moments later Soda entered his bedroom to see a very tired looking Ponyboy sitting on the bed. Soda plopped down next to Pony and threw an arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Pony. What have you been doing?"

Pony looked sadly back into his brothers brown eyes. "Just waiting up for you. You scared me Soda. I just kept thinking bout mom and dad and how you could be hurt…and…and…"

Pony silently cursed himself for getting all choked up in front of Soda. Pony didn't want to make Soda feel bad. He just wanted Soda to know how much he cared. He wanted Soda to understand how important he was.

Soda quickly pulled his brother into a tight hug. Pony rested his chin on Soda's shoulder as he said, "It's just…it's just that…I was scared for you. I just didn't want you to be hurt."

"I'm not hurt, Pony. I'm right here. I was just being stupid. I'm sorry; I'll never to this again. I promise."

Pony nodded and pulled out of Soda's embrace. Soda looked miserably at Pony. He didn't know that him staying out late would upset Pony so much. Soda felt lousy as dirt. He never like to see Pony so upset. It was bad enough that the poor boy still had nightmares every now and then, but now he had to worry about his stupid brother staying out too late. Soda silently pledged to never do it again. He would never scare his little brother so bad again.

When the pair had lay down and covered up, Soda leaned over and wrapped his arm around Pony. He whispered, "I'm sorry that you got so upset, Pony."

Pony shrugged and said, "Oh, it's alright Soda. I don't mind waiting for you. I know you'd wait up for me."

Soda nodded. "Yeah, I would. But don't you ever do something so stupid alright. God knows, Darry would throw a hissy-fit if you ever came in this late."

Pony chuckled. "Yeah, you're probably right."

* * *

Oh, can't you just feel the foreshadowing!! Haha.

Well, thanks for reading. Now, it'd be just lovely if you'd leave a review. Cause, you know I just love me some reviews! Haha. But seriously, it'd be nice if you could tell me some advice, or just tell me what you thought of the story.

Thanks again. Hope you enjoyed.


End file.
